The Non Traditional Pathway

If someone had asked me a few years ago where I would be in 3 years’ time, the answer definitely would not have been at the start line of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. I rolled up to the start as the youngest rider and was greeted by a sea of cycling fans. Who would have known 6 months ago that I would be lining up against the likes of Gilbert, Boonen, Cavendish, Bouhanni, Stannard just to name a few. But how did I end up here?

My pathway is different to your usual “Aussie cyclist.” As quite frankly I was never quite good enough. I narrowly missed National Team selection for the World Championships last year and have struggled my entire riding career to even make the cut as a scholarship holder and any Institute of Sport. Without the help and guidance of Dave Sanders last year however, I don't know where I would be now. Anyway, as I have always been a little behind the 8-ball, I have tried to break away from the tradition Aussie pathway. You see many young Australians, go through the State Institute to the AIS Pathway but for me I have unfortunately not been granted the privilege of following this world class program although that dream is still there. For me, here I am sitting in Belgium, in my small apartment in a town named Buggenhout. With the help, guidance and the sole belief that one day I can make it to the big time in cycling, Kurt Bogaerts and the An-Post Chainreaction Cycling team have granted me a second life in the pursuit of my cycling dream.

I arrived in Belgium roughly one month ago and I couldn’t be happier. It is a different world to the National Road Series back home. The training is harder, longer, and colder and the racing is tough and long, however I couldn’t be happier. For anyone that told me the jump would be massive, they are correct. Although I may have swan dived into the deep end off a 10 meter platform I seem to have been able to start my long journey back to the surface of the water. I didn’t finish my first race in Belgium, however the experience and journey I have learnt from racing Kuurne-Brussels- Kuurne is one far from at home and one that I would not get racing in the National Road Series.

For any junior that has just missed the cut like I did for so many years, there is a way to still reach your full potential. Maybe for some it isn’t diving in the deep end as a young 18 year old in Belgium, but there is always another way. Although I still have a long way to go, I seem to have found my feet and with the belief Kurt and An-Post have shown me I know I can only go up from here.

For now I will return to some hard training on the quest to reach the pinnacle of professional cycling.